The Battle of Vicksburg in the Civil War culminated with the surrender of the Mississippi city on July 4, 1863. Its fall meant the Union had deprived the Confederacy of control of the Mississippi River. It also propelled U.S. Grant to national prominence. The National Park Service operates a national park in the city commemorating the battle. The park contains more than 1,340 monuments, markers, tablets and plaques.
A total of 17 monuments honor Union regiments. The Massachusetts Memorial was the first state memorial erected within the park. Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson was the sculptor for the monument dedicated on November 14, 1903. A soldier stands atop a 15-ton boulder from Massachusetts in memory of three Massachusetts regiments. Instead of one large monument, the State of Ohio erected 39 separate monuments, one for each of its units. The 37-foot-tall Michigan State Monument, made from White Bethel Granite, features a woman sculpted by Herbert Adams.
Although 11 states comprised the Confederacy, the National Park Service website lists 14 states with memorials. In fact, Kentucky and Missouri have monuments for soldiers of both sides. The 18-foot tall Georgia Memorial is identical to monuments placed at Gettysburg, Antietam and Kennesaw Mountain. The Tennessee Memorial was dedicated on June 29, 1996. The monument, made from unpolished granite and shaped in the outline of the state, was erected with funds raised by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Kitson also made numerous plaques and busts of officers who served at Vicksburg. Her works honor more than 40 Union officers, including Col. Jesse I. Alexander, commander of the 59th Indiana; Brig. Gen. William P. Benton, Commander of the First Brigade, 14th Division; and Col. George E. Bryant, commander of the 12th Wisconsin. The Confederate plaque honorees include Gen. John C. Vaughn of Tennessee, who led the East Tennessee cavalry at Vicksburg. Kitson's bust of Maj Gen. John C. Breckinridge is located on Kentucky Avenue. Breckinridge had a noteworthy career. Besides his service in the Confederate army, he was a United States senator and vice president, and lost the 1860 presidential race to Abraham Lincoln.
The opposing commanders, Gen. Grant for the Union and Gen. John Pemberton for the Confederacy, first talked about a surrender plan at a point between the lines. The original stone monument marking the location can be found in the visitor center complex as of 2011. It was moved from the surrender spot due to vandalism.
